Latvian carrier airBaltic signed a cooperation deal, with SN Brussels allowing airBaltic's passengers access to 14 African cities. AirBaltic passengers from Riga can connect to the African destinations through Brussels. Separately, airBaltic plans to launch flights from Riga to Dubai Dec. 26, with a regularly scheduled flight on Saturdays through March 24.
Passenger growth in Europe remains strong among both low-fare and network carriers, although it is being outpaced by capacity expansion. Ryanair and EasyJet both reached more than double-digit year-on-year passenger growth in November. Ryanair led the field with a 15% increase in passengers to 3.16 million, compared to last year's result, with load factor dipping to 79% from last November's 81% and the 83% rolling 12-month average.
Boeing may be winning the order race this year, but Airbus is ahead on the delivery front and in total backlog, Airbus North America CEO Barry Eccleston said yesterday.
Denver Airport credits an aggressive incentive program and support from the state for bringing in new service to Munich on Lufthansa that begins March 31. The airport sees capturing more international service as an economic benefit to the community, said Turner West, manager of aviation for the city, which operates the airport. "We're looking at $108 million in direct, indirect and induced benefits with the new Munich flight," he said.
Northwest this week unveiled plans to expand its code-share links with SkyTeam partner Korean Air, further boosting Northwest's Asia/Pacific network. Under the deal, Northwest will put its code on Korean Air flights from Seoul to Seattle, Chicago, Tokyo and Osaka. Northwest also will add its code to KAL's Tokyo-Los Angeles flight and Korean Air-operated flights from Busan to Tokyo and Osaka.
Virgin Blue picked Lufthansa Technik to refurbish landing gears on its 53 Boeing 737s. Terms of the eight-year deal include completing the work in Hamburg and supplying spare shipsets in Brisbane.
Iberia last week reported a 28% increase in traffic between Madrid and Central American destinations in the first 10 months of this year versus the same period in 2005, and the carrier is adding frequencies to meet demand and growth.
Colombian congressman David Luna warned a business forum in Bogota that time restrictions on the second runway at Eldorado Airport may hinder efficient operations at the facility. The second runway is open only from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The time restriction was imposed by a state court on a complaint of noise pollution by the Ministry of the Environment.
Posters of the 26 most wanted terrorists are beginning to show up at U.S. airports under a program spearheaded by the U.S. State Dept. with cooperation from the Transportation Security Administration.
Although Boeing is touting the continuing sales success of its yet-to-be-built 787 aircraft, the manufacturer is still tweaking the design to bring it within the target weight, Boeing Commercial Airplanes head Scott Carson said yesterday.
Jon Beatty was nominated to replace Mark King as President of International Aero Engines as King's three-year term draws to a close. Beatty's most recent position was VP-operational commercial engine programs at Pratt & Whitney. In previous positions he was program director for the IAE V2500 and served on IAE's Executive Board. King plans to hold a senior position within the Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace senior management team. Beatty and King will work together at the beginning of next year on the transition of responsibilities.
Chaos reigned again this week at some airports in Brazil because of sporadic morning and afternoon blackouts in communications between aircraft and the Brasilia air traffic control center.
The leaders of Mexico's two largest carriers agree that there is growing overcapacity problem in the domestic market, but at least one executive is hesitant to pursue an acquisition or merger and instead believes some smaller carriers will collapse.
Allegiant Air plans to end its flights to Newburgh, N.Y., Stewart Airport on Jan. 11 after only three months of service. The carrier started flights from Newburgh to Orlando Sanford on Oct. 27 and will go ahead with the start of St. Petersburg service on Dec. 13. It decided to stop service "due to escalating competitive conditions within the market." In other words, Allegiant plans to avoid the battle between JetBlue and AirTran, which are starting Newburgh flights soon.
Satena, operated as a commercial airline by the Colombian air force, in August reached third place in domestic market share (10.92%) behind leaders Avianca and AeroRepublica. Satena carried 14,786 more passengers than in the same month last year, up 21.23%.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is urging carriers not to wait for FAA's rulemaking on changes in calculating stopping distances on contaminated runways and to immediately adopt the incorporation of a 15% safety factor in their calculations. NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker used the upcoming Dec. 8 anniversary of the Southwest overrun at Midway to highlight the recommendations the board made to FAA as a result of its investigation. One suggestion involves the barring of airlines from using thrust reverser credits in determining landing distances.
Five years after it began talks with Boeing about an update for the 747-400, Lufthansa yesterday launched the passenger version of that aircraft's successor, the 747-8, with a firm order for 20 aircraft and purchase rights for 20 more.
Priceline.com this week said Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. and Cheung Kong Holdings sold about 3.8 million shares of Priceline common stock in an "at-the-market offering," underwritten by Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Roughly a year into its parts deal with Mesa, AAR is working to bring most of the component repair it manages under that program in-house to drive savings down even further for current and future customers. In late 2005, AAR cinched supply chain support deals with Mesa covering the carrier's CRJ-200s/700s/900s and Embraer ERJ-145s. AAR agreed to buy $50 million in existing and future spare parts inventory from Mesa. Carrier executives predicted saving about $30 million during the first few years of the 10-year deals (DAILY, Aug. 26, 2005).
SAS Sweden has launched a system that uses biometrics to check in and track passenger baggage at airports throughout the country. The system, developed by Sweden-based Precise Biometrics, invites travelers to provide a finger- print upon checking in for a flight and again at the gate, automatically matching baggage to its owner. The system eliminates the need for photographic identification. At the end of the trip, the fingerprint is erased, which eases privacy concerns.
